John Smalman Smith was a British judge who was Chief Justice of the Colony of Lagos in 1889. He was a former Vice President of the Royal African Society. He judicial work contributed to the growth of Nigerian law in the closing years of the nineteenth century.
Life
Smith was born on August 23, 1847 to the family of Samuel Pountney Smith of Shrewsbury. He was educated at Shrewsbury School and St John's College, Cambridge. He was called to the bar in 1872 and joined the Oxford Circuit, later on, he was a junior counsel to the Society of Architects. In 1883, he was appointed as a Puisne judge of the Eastern Province of the Gold Coast colony with Lagos as the centre of the district. During his tenure the court expanded its office on Tinubu square. In 1886, Lagos was made a separate colony and Smith became judge of the Vice Admiralty Court, he later became the Chief Justice in 1889.
Some of his notable cases during the end of the nineteenth century include Voigt and Co v Yesufu Bada, Glassie v Leigh, Omoniregun v Sadatu and Olawoyin v Coker. In the Olawoyin v Coker and Sadatu cases, the judgement dealt with interpretations of Yoruba customary laws in the ownership of land and family house.